A blackout occurs in New York City. Chandler is stranded in an ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre. The other five friends are at Monica's apartment. When they find a stray cat, they go door to door to find its owner. Monica and Rachel meet Paolo, who joins them in the apartment to wait out the blackout. Ross decides to approach Rachel about his feelings, but she and Paolo start kissing.
Tropes
- As Herself: Supermodel Jill Goodacre, the first of many such guest stars in the series.
- Big Blackout: Chandler gets stuck in an ATM booth with Victoria's Secret model Jill Goodacre (to his great delight) while the others search for the owner of a stray cat that scratches Ross. (The episode was part of a "Blackout Thursday" gimmick that involved several NBC sitcoms; see Crossover, below.)
- Can't Believe I Said That: Chandler gets stuck in an ATM vestibule with Victoria's Secret model Jill Goodacre. She offers Chandler gum and at first he turns it down. Then he realizes that he shouldn't have and tells her:Chandler: You know, on second thought, gum would be perfection. (Thinking) Gum would be perfection? Gum would be perfection. Could have said, "Gum would be nice," or "I'll have a stick," but no no no no no. For me, gum is perfection. I loathe myself.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Joey says the weirdest place he's had sex in was a restroom at a library, Monica expresses surprise... that he was in a library at all. It's sarcastic on her part.
- Crossover: This episode was part of NBC's "Blackout Thursday" stunt, in which the characters on Mad About You caused a citywide blackout, followed by the characters on Friends and Madman of the People dealing with the aftermath (although this technically doesn't count as a true crossover, since there was no actual interaction between the various shows' characters). Seinfeld was a notable holdout, as its script for the week had been written long before.
- Cuteness Proximity: Rachel gets distracted when Ross is trying to ask her out because there's a cat on the wall behind him.
- Evil Laugh: Once all the candles go out, the friends mess around by performing evil laughter in the dark. Ross tries to come up with the "ultimate" evil laugh, only for it to die as a pained moan when the lights come back on and he sees Rachel and Paolo making out.
- Funny Background Event: After the cat jumps onto Ross the camera cuts to Phoebe, Monica and Joey singing inside the apartment as Ross flails around in the background.
- I Ate WHAT?!: Chandler tries to impress Jill Goodacre by blowing a bubble with his gum, but accidentally spits it out instead. He tries to put it back in his mouth before she finds out, but ends up taking someone else’s discarded gum instead. And to top it off, he starts choking on it.
- Inner Monologue: Chandler does this a lot throughout the episode as he gathers the nerve to talk to Jill Goodacre.
- Latin Lover: The girls are all immediately smitten with Paolo, a tall, handsome Italian man who barely speaks English.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: To pass the time during the blackout, the friends discuss the weirdest places they've had sex in. Monica's was a pool table, Joey's was the women's restroom in New York's library, Phoebe's was Milwaukee and Ross' was the "It's a small world" ride at Disneyland, which got him and Carol banned from the place. Rachel tries to skip her turn, because the wildest place she ever had sex in is the foot of the bed.
- Moment Killer: Paolo's cat ruins Ross' attempt to ask out Rachel.
- Power Outage Plot: It's all about how the characters deal with a city-wide blackout.
